In Kind Arthur, what was expected in the noble class?

Question

So I am doing this book report, and I can't find it directly what was expected. Since I have to do it today, I was wondering if anyone knew.

Answer 1

I am assuming that you meant to type - King Arthur.

Here's a very good website -- look under the section entitled Knights.

The noble class and specifically the Knights of the Round Table were men of courage, honor, dignity, courtesy, and nobleness. They protected ladies and damsels, honored and fought for kings, and undertook dangerous quests. The Order's dominant idea was the love of God, mankind, and noble deeds.

On the website, there is a "charge" or order given by King Arthur to his nobles spelling out exactly as they should act as knights .  Plus, if you hover your cursor over the Knight's shields on the title line- you can get a short bio of each of them -- in case you need to cite examples in your book report.  Good Luck!

Answer 2

King Arthur varies from account to account, whether you are talking about medieval tales or modern tales.

In some Arthur is almost a perfect individual. But in other accounts, such as in the “Post-Vulgate Merlin”, Arthur is a lecher and a rapist.

Indeed, it is not clear what was expected of the noble class in medieval times, other than to be good fighters. Honesty and keeping ones' word were generally espoused as good traits, but in fact the upper class didn’t behave much better than does the upper class today. Obviously the upper class weren’t usually really expected to behave according to the morals they espoused. They were expected to be loyal of course, but loyal to one’s family, to one’s country, to one’s moral code?

Sir Thomas Malory in his “Le Motre d’Arthur” presents a rather noble, Arthur, with only two illegitimate sons, who is less vicious towards Gwenevere when her adultery with Lancelot is revealed than is the Arthur in his sources. The punishment of burning is explained by Malory as the custom of the time, while in Malory’s sources the burning is clearly Arthur’s own wish. Also Malory, rather fortunately, doesn’t seem to have access to the early portion of the “Prose Lancelot”, where Arthur’s forces are completely routed by Galahot’s forces and only Lancelot saves the day, where Arthur ends up imprisoned by a s**y Saxon princess who has fooled him, where Arthur rejects Guenevere his wife for the sake of a fraud who claims to be the real Guenevere.